Kobe  Theological 
School 


Rev.  H.  W.  Myers 


PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 
NASHVILLE,  TENNESSEE 


Educational  Department 


OUTLINE  MAP  OF  CENTRAL  JAPAN.  SOUTHERN  PRESBYTERIAN  MISSION 


The  pronunciation  of  Japanese  words  is  not  diffi¬ 
cult  if  we  remember  that  there  is  very  little  accent, 
all  syllables  being  given  nearly  the  same  stress. 
Then  each  vowel  is  pronounced  as  a  separate  sylla¬ 
ble,  giving  words  like  Kobe  two  syllables.  Tokyo 
and  Hyogo  are  pronounced  as  words  of  two  syllables, 
not  three.  The  vowels  are  pronounced  as  in  Latin: 
a  as  in  father,  e  as  in  they,  i  as  in  machine,  o  as  in 
note,  and  u  as  oo  in  moon. 


Kobe  Theological  School. 

The  work  of  raising  up  and  preparing  a  native 
ministry  necessarily  holds  an  important  place  in 
the  evangelization  of  any  country.  That  Japan 
must  be  evangelized  by  the  Japanese  and  China  by 
the  Chinese  is  so  true  that  it  almost  goes  without 
saying.  Our  Executive  Committee  has  repeatedly 
put  itself  on  record  as  desiring  to  take  part  in  the 
education  of  the  ministry  in  Japan  and  in  all  its 
mission  fields,  and  has  always  shown  cordial  sym¬ 
pathy  for  every  movement  in  this  direction.  Of 
course  a  theological  school  can  never  take  the  place 
of  wide  evangelistic  work.  The  evangelistic  mis¬ 
sionary  must  win  the  men  who  enter  as  students, 
and  must  work  with  the  young  ministers  who  go 
out  from  the  school.  Theological  and  evangelistic 
work  must  advance  hand  in  hand. 

From  the  founding  of  the  Southern  Presbyterian 
Mission  in  Japan,  the  vital  importance  of  this  branch 
of  the  work  wras  recognized.  The  Mission  first 

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entered  into  a  plan  of  cooperation  with  the  Reformed 
Church,  sending  Dr.  R.  B.  Grinnan  as  our  repre¬ 
sentative  to  teach  in  the  Seminary  at  Nagasaki. 
Later,  when  this  school  was  closed,  Dr.  S.  P.  Fulton 
was  sent  as  our  representative  to  teach  in  Meiji 
Gakuin,  the  Presbyterian  school  in  Tokyo.  Neither 
plan  proved  satisfactory  as  neither  of  these  schools 
could  supply  our  field  with  the  workers  needed. 
So  at  last  we  decided  to  open  a  school  of  our  own 
in  Kobe,  and  Dr.  Fulton  was  asked  to  take  charge. 

Small  Beginnings. 

In  September,  1907,  in  a  little  rented  house  in 
Kobe,  the  Mission  opened  its  own  school  with  three 
teachers  and  six  students.  Later,  two  of  these  stu¬ 
dents  had  to  be  dropped  as  unsuitable,  and  another 
had  to  drop  out  for  a  year  on  account  of  bad  health. 

The  school  was  opened  in  a  small  house  in  a  damp 
hollow,  well  sheltered  from  fresh  air  and  sunshine, 
but  it  was  the  best  that  could  be  found.  The  next 
year  found  us  in  a  semi-foreign  house  in  a  much 
better  location.  This  house  had  an  attractive  gar¬ 
den  around  it,  and  room  enough  to  pack  away  our 
books  and  a  new  class  of  students,  the  hall  serving 
as  library  and  one  of  the  class-rooms. 


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Grounds  and  Buildings. 

In  1909  a  beautiful  lot  of  about  half  an  acre  was 
bought  on  a  high  bluff  on  the  eastern  edge  of  the 
city  for  S3, 250.  Its  present  value  is  $8,500,  and  we 
have  buildings  worth  $6,200.  Above  and  only  a 
few  hundred  yards  away  tower  the  pine-clad  moun¬ 
tains,  with  scarlet  maples  here  and  there  to  give  a 
dash  of  color  in  the  spring  and  fall.  From  the  school 
windows  we  look  down  on  the  busy  city,  extending 
miles  to  the  east  and  wTest;  we  see  the  broad  expanse 
of  Osaka  Bay,  crowded  with  fussy  launches,  great 
ocean  liners  and  sombre  battle-ships.  Across  the 
bay  we  can  see  the  smoke  of  Osaka  and  the  blue 
mountains  beyond.  A  more  beautiful  or  a  more 
healthy  site  could  not  be  found  anywhere. 

The  buildings  are  all  frame,  painted  “chocolate 
and  cream.”  The  Main  Building,  which  has  the 
appearance  of  an  attractive  residence,  contains  the 
chapel,  four  class-rooms  and  the  teachers’  room. 
The  dormitory,  a  few  yards  east,  has  the  dining- 

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room,  kitchen,  and  sleeping  accommodations — on 
the  floor,  of  course — for  twenty  students.  In  1910 
a  home  for  one  of  the  Japanese  professors  was  add¬ 
ed,  and  all  our  ground  was  filled  up  except  enough 
for  a  tennis-court  and  a  little  grass-plot. 

Like  the  old  woman  who  lived  in  the  shoe,  our 
numbers  continued  to  increase,  till  in  the  fall  of 
1912  the  tennis-court  had  to  be  sacrificed  for  a  com¬ 
bined  dormitory  and  library  building.  The  first 
gift  toward  the  erection  of  this  building  was  two 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars  given  by  Mr.  Masutomi, 
who  was  at  the  time  a  student  in  the  school.  Down¬ 
stairs  are  the  library,  the  President’s  room  and  a 


THE  MOST  SOCIABLE  PLACE  IN  THE  WORLD  IN  JAPAN 


class-room.  Up-stairs  we  have  a  large  room  for 
student  prayer-meetings  and  a  half  dozen  bed¬ 
rooms.  In  the  rear  of  this  building  is  the  bath. 
Now  a  Japanese  bath-room  is  the  most  sociable 
place  in  the  world.  The  tub  is  of  wood,  three  feet 
by  four,  heated  by  a  little  furnace  inside  the  tub. 


8 


They  dip  out  basins  full  of  hot  water,  and  a  half 
dozen  can  be  scrubbing  off  together,  while  two  at  a 
time  are  sociably  par-boiling  themselves  in  the  big 
tub. 

Teachers. 

Formerly,  the  Mission  could  spare  only  one  fam¬ 
ily  for  Kobe;  but  as  the  school  and  the  evangelistic 
work  developed,  two  more  families  were  sent  there. 
Dr.  Fulton,  Dr.  Buchanan,  and  Dr.  Myers  are  now 
our  representatives  in  Kobe.  Beside  the  missiona¬ 
ries  four  of  the  city  pastors  teach  regularly  in  the 
school.  From  the  first  every  teacher  has  engaged 
in  active  evangelistic  work,  and  it  is  our  aim  to  have 
the  whole  school  pervaded  by  an  evangelistic  spirit. 


Dr.  Mizokuchi,  after  working  for  some  years  in 
connection  with  our  Mission,  went  to  America  and 
took  a  course  at  Princeton  Seminary.  Returning 
to  Japan  he  took  up  work  in  the  school,  preaching 
to  a  little  band  of  Christians,  which  has  become, 


9 


under  his  ministry,  one  of  the  strongest  churches 
in  the  city.  Dr.  Mizokuchi  is  short  of  stature,  very 
attractive  socially,  and  noted  as  a  wise  counsellor. 

Mr.  Naito  spent  some  years  as  a  successful  evan¬ 
gelist,  then  went  to  America  and  studied  in  New 
York  and  Chicago.  Returning  to  Japan  he  devel¬ 
oped  our  “Hyogo  Chapel”  into  the  “Minatogawa 
Church.”  He  is  now  pastor  of  the  “Sosai  Church,” 
which  is  rapidly  approaching  entire  self-support. 
Mr.  Naito  is  an  orator  who  can  make  people  listen 
as  long  as  he  chooses  to  talk. 

Mr.  Watanabe  is  a  graduate  of  Princeton,  and  has 
worked  several  years  among  the  Japanese  of  Cali¬ 
fornia.  He  developed  Nunobiki  Chapel  into  Nuno- 
biki  Church,  and  is  now  the  pastor  of  the  Ninomiya 
Chapel,  which  we  hope  will  soon  be  a  self-supporting 
church,  worshiping  in  its  own  building.  Tall,  pol¬ 
ished  and  handsome,  Mr.  Watanabe  is  gifted  as 
pastor,  teacher  and  friend. 

Mr.  Yatsu  studied  at  Princeton  and  at  Hartford. 
In  addition  to  his  teaching  work,  he  is  vigorously 
pressing  the  work  in  Nunobiki  Church,  where  he 
succeeded  Mr.  Watanabe.  Mr.  Yatsu  makes  up  in 
dignity,  learning  and  piety  what  he  lacks  in  hair 
and  height.  All  these  gentlemen  are  men  of  unu¬ 
sual  consecration  and  ability,  and  we  congratulate 
ourselves  on  having  such  able  fellow-workers. 


10 


Students. 

The  number  of  our  students  has  been  limited  by 
our  funds  and  our  accommodations  to  about  twenty- 
five.  Several  are  men  of  mature  years  who  have 
given  up  business  careers  for  the  ministry.  Several 
Korean  students  have  been  received,  nearly  all  of 
whom  have  been  supported  by  a  Christian  Japanese 
gentleman  who  wished  in  this  way  to  help  in  the 
work  of  evangelizing  Korea.  Of  the  thirty  graduates 
(1915)  one  has  died,  and  all  of  the  rest  are  in  active 
work  except  one  who  is  now  studying  at  Princeton. 
Some  are  pastors  of  self-supporting  churches  and 
some  are  working  as  evangelists  in  connection  with 
the  Mission.  Many  of  these  men  would  rank  high 
among  the  ministers  of  our  own  land  in  scholarship, 
piety,  eloquence  and  zeal.  They  have  temptations, 
difficulties  and  discouragements  that  we  have  never 
known,  but  they  are  men  to  be  proud  of;  and  we 
thank  God  for  them  and  their  work. 


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Course  of  Study. 

The  course  of  study  corresponds  closely  with  that 
of  one  of  our  schools  at  home,  with  the  exception 
that  we  have  not  thought  it  wise  to  teach  Hebrew. 
The  study  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  in  Jap¬ 
anese  is  made  the  centre  of  the  course  to  which  all 
else  is  subsidiary.  In  the  preparatory  year  such 
classes  as  English,  Universal  History,  Sociology, 
Psychology,  and  Ethics  are  taught,  followed  by 
three  years  of  more  distinctively  Biblical  studies. 
Theology,  Exegesis,  Homiletics,  Church  History, 
and  Greek  are  about  as  easy  to  teach  and  as  hard  to 
learn  in  Japanese  as  in  English.  All  of  our  students 
are  able  to  make  use  of  the  library,  and  we  often 
give  them  essays  on  special  subjects  to  work  up  in 
the  library. 


Monthly  Conferences. 

Every  month  the  whole  student  body  with  all  the 
teachers  and  their  families  meet  together  at  one  of 


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the  homes  or  at  the  school  for  a  conference.  Ad¬ 
dresses  are  given  by  one  of  the  teachers  and  one  of 
the  students,  and  these  are  followed  by  a  general 
discussion  and  a  supper.  The  Atonement,  John 
Calvin,  the  Synoptic  Problem,  Faith,  the  Puritans 
and  reviews  of  various  new  books  are  some  of  the 
subjects  that  have  been  discussed  at  these  confer¬ 
ences.  On  one  occasion  the  speaker  had  exceeded 
his  time  limit,  when  without  a  word  of  warning  the 
clock  began  striking,  and  kept  on  till  it  had  struck 
thirty-five.  The  humor  of  the  situation  was  not 
lost  on  the  audience. 

Annual  Outing. 


As  all  work  and  no  play  makes  Jack  a  dull  boy, 


13 


we  arrange  every  spring  to  take  an  outing  together 
to  the  mountains,  or  the  sea-shore,  or  to  some  place 
of  historic  interest  in  the  vicinity.  There  we  spend 
a  day  and  night  together  and  get  entirely  off  our 
dignity  and  have  a  good  time.  Many  of  the  Japa¬ 
nese  are  full  of  fun,  and  nearly  all  can  pull  off  some 
parlor  stunt  and  make  fun  for  the  rest.  Last  year 
one  of  the  boys  amused  the  crowd  by  describing  in 
a  ludicrous  way  how  he  had  seen  the  bald-headed 
professor  stand  sadly  before  the  mirror  holding  the 
comb  that  his  wife  had  thoughtfully  put  into  his 
satchel.  There  was  absolutely  nothing  for  him  to 
use  the  comb  on,  so  after  looking  a  minute  at  his 
shining  head  he  regretfully  combed— his  mustache. 


Evangelistic  Work. 

As  far  as  possible  every  student  is  given  regular 
work  in  one  of  our  churches  or  chapels,  where  they 
teach  in  the  Sunday-schools  and  preach.  In  con¬ 
nection  with  several  chapels  the  students  go  out  in 
companies  and  preach  on  the  streets,  advertising 
the  meetings,  distributing  tracts,  visiting  and 
preaching  the  Gospel  to  those  who  will  not  come  to 
church  to  hear.  One  student  used  to  go  almost 
every  day  to  preach  in  the  poorest  slum  district  of 
the  city,  and  from  this  beginning  arose  a  prosperous 
settlement  work  through  which  over  fifty  persons 
were  converted,  and  through  which  the  whole  com¬ 
munity  was  profoundly  influenced.  Mr.  Kagawa, 
who  carried  on  this  work,  is  now  studying  at  Prince¬ 
ton  University  and  Seminary,  and  he  plans  on  his 
return  to  Japan  to  give  his  life  to  the  evangelization 
of  the  poor  of  Japan  on  a  larger  scale  than  has  ever 
been  attempted  before. 


14 


MR.  MASUTOMI  GAVE  $250  FOR  THE  LIBRARY  AND 
HAS  SUPPORTED  HIMSELF  AND  FOUR  OTHER 
STUDENTS  IN  THE  SCHOOL. 

Needs. 

The  greatest  need  of  the  school  just  at  present  is 
an  additional  strip  of  land  containing  about  a  quar¬ 
ter  of  an  acre  adjoining  our  property.  This  could 
have  been  bought  a  few  years  ago  for  $1,600,  but 
would  now  cost  $4,500.  We  are  now  renting  this 
land  to  give  our  students  a  place  to  exercise;  but  we 
do  not  know  when  it  will  be  sold,  built  up  in  resi- 


15 


dences  and  lost  to  us  forever.  We  pray  that  God 
may  put  it  into  the  hearts  of  some  of  his  people  to 
enable  us  to  get  this  lot. 

Principles. 

One  of  our  teachers  in  accepting  our  invitation  to 
teach  in  the  school  stated  that  he  had  planned  to 
make  it  his  life-work  to  stand  for  the  authenticity 
and  inerrancy  of  the  Scriptures;  and  this  well  rep¬ 
resents  the  attitude  of  our  school.  That  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  Divine  Saviour,  and  that  the  Bible  is 
the  Word  of  God,  are  two  doctrines  that  are  widely 
doubted  and  often  openly  attacked  in  Japan;  and 
these  are  the  fundamental  truths  for  which  our 
school  stands.  May  the  Lord  bless  our  efforts  to 
glorify  His  name  and  advance  His  Kingdom  in 
Japan. 


BRANDON  PRINTING  CO. 


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